By Matt Hardy
Ben Stokes broke the record for the most runs in an ODI innings by an Englishman as his 182 guided the home side to a 181-run victory over New Zealand at the Oval.
England now lead the series 2-1 with one match left to play, at Lord’s on Friday.
England got off to the worst possible start with Jonny Bairstow dispatched first ball by Trent Boult, who went on to register bowling figures of 5-51.
But England managed to motor after Joe Root was caught for four when Dawid Malan knocked 96 and Stokes smashed 182.
Stokes on fire
Stokes’ record total beat the previous best by an Englishman – Jason Roy’s 180 versus Australia in 2018 – and saw the Test captain hit 15 fours and nine sixes at a strike rate of 146.77.
England were eventually bowled out for 368 before reducing New Zealand to 37-4 with the bat.
Glenn Phillips put up the most resistance with a knock of 72 while Rachin Ravindra added a further 28 but the tourists were eventually dispatched for 187, handing England a 181-run win at the Oval.
Chris Woakes and Liam Livingstone got three wickets each, Reece Topley secured two and there was one each for Sam Curran and Moeen Ali.
Stokes said: “It was really good. Coming back into the team after a while out it is always nice to contribute to a win.
“I apologised to Jason [Roy] upstairs. It was a good wicket. Conditions did change after the lights came on, it was offering a lot. It was obvious with the way Woakesy [Woakes] and Toppers [Topley] bowled. We spoke about putting more pressure on New Zealand and I feel like we did that.
“As an experienced player you want to go out and show the guys you can do that and it isn’t just words. It doesn’t always happen, we tried to do it at Southampton and it didn’t quite happen.
“We wanted to put more and more on them.”
